All I Need
by Whispering Ranger
Summary: He'd stay and scrub his body until it was red and raw, sometimes bleeding. Then he'd go to bed and fall asleep, praying he wouldn't wake up again. Slash.


_**Disclaimer:** Standard._

_Okay, so I have no idea, really, where this came from. I'm sick, so my mind tends to crawl towards the dark side._

_**Warnings:** Slash (Blake/Dustin), mentions of rape and prostitution, implied self-harming._

_Thanks to Project314 for betaing :)_

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**All I Need**  
_is an escape..._

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Shane had once said that people who sold their bodies for money, or maybe just for fun, should rethink that decision, because it brought no good. That night, Dustin had laid awake for hours, thinking about that.

But when the sun had finally started to rise, he'd figured that, he shouldn't rethink that decision, because he didn't do it for money nor for fun, but to get away, to escape reality's harsh grip on him.

It wasn't like he _wanted_ to do it, just... it was the only thing he was able to do without anyone really noticing. Sure, he could cut himself, the pain from that was good and almost soothing, but... selling his body, letting people use it as they wanted... it was hard to explain, but... it made him feel useful.

It's ironic, isn't it? Being used makes you feel useful. He felt like a silly teenage girl when he thought about it that way.

When he came home after such nights, usually at dawn, he'd go straight to the bathroom and into the shower. There he'd stay and scrub his body until it was red and raw, sometimes bleeding. Then he'd go to bed and fall asleep, praying he wouldn't wake up again. But every time woke up, and he felt numb, and he could only feel that nothing mattered anymore.

He didn't really know when it had happened, or how it had happened, but somehow Blake had found out. Blake, who had never really seemed to care much about anything but Hunter or Tori, had found out, and now spent most of his nights sitting on Dustin's bedroom floor with him, listening to him talk and sometimes coming up with a soothing word or a helpful advice.

Eventually Blake revealed to him that he'd seen him one night. Dustin had felt the heat rise in his cheeks at that confession, and he'd been ashamed. His blush had grown when Blake had cupped his chin, tilted his head up so they were looking into each other's eyes, and said that it didn't matter what he had seen, how much of it he had seen. The only thing that mattered was that he was okay.

"Do they treat you right?" Blake asked quietly one night. Dustin nodded.

"Yeah... most of them do."

"That's good," Blake smiled slightly. "Can't have anything of you not being able to walk when there's an attack."

Dustin had laughed on the outside, but on the inside he'd slowly started to become crushed. He'd hoped that Blake would say that it was good because he cared, not because they needed him to fight against evil.

He'd hoped that maybe, just _maybe_, Blake would use his body the way strangers did. But now that he thought about it, it was stupid. Blake was straight. And anyway, he didn't really want to have Blake do that... did he? No, he didn't. He couldn't make Blake do it either, it wasn't fair for either of them. It would only make Dustin long for more, and Blake... he had no idea what Blake would do if he told him about it. In the end it would just hurt both of them.

"What's on your mind?" Blake asked, strumming the guitar he'd found in Dustin's living room It was more Cam's hobby, but who cared? Definitely not Blake. Not Dustin either, by the looks of it.

The brunette turned his head so he was looking at the Navy ranger instead of the light grey ceiling.

"Nothing, I just..." He paused, thinking about how to phrase his thoughts. "I just wondered why you bother?"

Blake looked sharply at him. "What do you mean?"

Dustin sat up on the edge of the bed. "I just wondered why you bother sitting here almost every night, listening to me rant about the stupid problems that I brought onto myself. Either that, or we're both silent, and I just don't get how you can stand it!" he exclaimed.

Blake chuckled. "Easy. I can stand it because I care."

"You... you do?" Dustin asked dumbfounded. Blake sighed, shaking his head.

"Should've thought you would've gotten that by now. Yes, I care. You're my friend and my teammate, so why shouldn't I? Besides..." He smirked. "By the way you keep looking at me..."

Dustin blushed, snatched the pillow on the bed and threw it at him. "I do not!" he mumbled in protest.

"You do," Blake teased. "Just admit it."

"You'll have to force me." Dustin said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

A sly grin was the only reply before Blake tackled him to the floor and started tickling him mercilessly.

"Gaah! Dude.... stop, that's... un... fair! Stop it!" Dustin laughed and let out squeals at the same time, struggling to get away from the cruel hands that tickled his sides. Blake eventually let him up and took a deep breath.

Dustin sat up, drying the tears of laughter in his eyes as he grinned. Before Blake could move Dustin had flipped him to the floor and straddled his waist, still grinning.

"Gotcha." he teased, poking Blake's chest. Blake let out a sound that sounded something like "pfft" and crossed his arms.

"Woohoo, you got me." he said dryly.

Dustin stuck out his lower lip.

"Ooh, pouty," Blake was teasing him again.

"You want it maybe?" Dustin teased back.

Blake's laughing look disappeared as fast as you could turn off the light. "I'd like that."

The grin faded from Dustin's face. "You mean it?" he asked quietly. Blake nodded.

A small smile appeared on Dustin's face and he leaned down and placed his lips on Blake's.


End file.
